Trad climbs

A groundbreaking route, taking on the impressive central crack line up the centre of Dumbarton Rock. Originally graded E7 when first climbed by Dave 'Cubby' Cuthbertson in 1983, it was upgraded to E8 by Dave MacLeod in 2000.

The route features traditionally protected 8a/+ climbing, making it not just the first E8 in the UK, but the first 8a or harder too. The route was established mostly ground-up, with Cubby just having a peek at the final moves from a top rope after an epic siege.

The route seems to have been consistently cited as having 8a+ climbing until the mid 2010s. Cubby's thoughts on the grade:

Well, I never gave it 8a+… I think sometimes the grades get a little bit inflated on traditionally protected routes, personally speaking. I'm still of that opinion... So, I've done Statement of Youth (8a) on Lower Pen Trwyn. It's actually quite a solid route, really. So, it's a very hard route to compare, to begin with. Requiem is obviously not a sport route, and it wasn't done in sport style either. So, it's got a slightly confused style of ascent, really. So, it's certainly no less than 8a, I wouldn't think, whether it's 8a or 8a+ or not, I guess it's neither here nor there. [1]

Although its harder variation Rhapsody (E11) gets much of the limelight, Requiem has had only a handful of ground-up ascents and to date has never been flashed or onsighted. Will Atkinson made the first ground-up in 2011. Caroline Ciavaldini made the second ground-up, and first female ascent, in 2014.

References

[1] https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/jam-crack-the-niall-grimes-climbing-podcast/id1065991509?i=1000581932346

A stunning coastal slab adventure whose immense proportions are perhaps only exceeded by the size of the grading controversy that accompanied its first ascent.

The route has a somewhat complicated history. An indirect line called Dyer Straits (E8) was originally climbed by Ian Vickers that used a lot of pegs (although the pegs were not placed by him) [2]. James Pearson then removed the pegs and added a direct start, suggesting the unprecedented grade of E12. The route was quickly repeated by Dave MacLeod (who was injured at the time) who suggested a downgrade to E9, commenting:

For James to come to this blank canvas of a wall and have the courage to see past all the uncertainties and unknowns to make a route is a brilliant achievement. But although trad climbs truly deserving of E9 and above are still very few and far between in the world, there are some, and they’ve been around for a while. The Walk of Life stands among these routes, not above them. [1]

The harsh criticism which was levelled at James from the climbing community for overgrading this route (and supposedly others), led to him moving to Innsbruck to get away from the UK climbing scene.

James has since reflected that, having grown up bouldering and climbing short, bold gritstone routes, The Walk of Life lay far outside his comfort zone. Lacking the experience to recognise his own weaknesses on that style of climb, he was led to propose the lofty grade of E12.[2]

In 2023 Tom Randall commented:

My view, having climbed both WOL and Once Upon is that James’s effort was most definitely E10 and the E9 downgrade was one of those things that was not quite right [...]

What I do think (and obvs it’s just my opinion) is that Once Upon has to be E8 if WOL E9 or we accept that maybe things got too compressed. I’d gladly lead one of the lines any day of the week, the other, deffo not 😅😅. My view after quite a bit of time on that wall is top end E8 for OUATITSW and bottom end E10 for WOL.

But…… it gets more complicated 😅. The WOL has gained & lost holds since James did it (easy to spot from the old video footage) and I’d say in current state it IS a solid E9. So I guess that’s the ever changing state of chossy sea cliffs? No ascent is quite the same? [4]

Dave has stated that he doesn’t agree with this assessment, and the route was E9 according to his experience. [5]

References

[1] https://davemacleod.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Walk%20of%20Life

[2] https://open.spotify.com/episode/2HAuDaq2kSHM6L7vdDu6uu?

[3] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/james-pearson-interview-after-the-walk-of-life.html

[4] https://www.instagram.com/p/CiAmEhvs68L/

[5] https://youtu.be/gbbgYR_6B7I

5.11c

First climbed in 1959 by Warren Harding, Glen Denny and Chuck Pratt as the East Face of Washington Column. Although this ascent was mainly aided, the Harding Slot - free climbed at a notional 5.9 - is still a considerable challenge for many despite its relatively low grade.

Named after the Jimi Hendrix song [2].

We had a tape deck with us and that seemed to be the song that we played when things looked tough.... [3]

References

[1] https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105845493/astroman

[2] https://www.jimihendrix.com/encyclopedia-tag/astro-man/

[3] http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=520019&tn=20

Named after Dál Riata, a Gaelic kingdom that spanned the western coast of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland.

References

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A1l_Riata

Johnny Dawes likely abseiled the line in 1989. Nick White writing in Mountain 129:

Dyers Lookout presented me with the heart stopping sight of someone abbing the most futuristic piece of rock on the North coast. Inevitably it turned out to be Johnny Dawes, who pronounced the line would be E9 7a and "that it would make someone very happy sometime in the future." [1]

References

[1] Mountain Issue 129 (1989), page 10 /library/11314/mountain-129

Overhanging groove right of Minaret (E8).